Cooking for the masses

By ANGELA McCARTHY

Weddings, funerals, corporate boxes, product launches, birthdays - whatever the occasion, food is an important aspect and it's increasingly provided by out-caterers.

Yet it's not a job for the faint-hearted, and being a keen foodie isn't necessarily going to make you an expert caterer. It needs creativity and organisational ability of military proportions.

But "a good caterer can get around anything if they're creative enough," declares Dean Hobbs, head chef and director of Food Fashions Executive Caterers.

He became interested in catering after working part-time for an upmarket catering company.

'I enjoy the variety, being involved in the delivery and service as well as making food. It's like taking the restaurant to the client, particularly when you're doing home catering."

He provides contemporary Pacific cuisine with the help of four to five staff working out of a large Takapuna commercial kitchen and office.

He does home catering as well as a lot of corporate work, from breakfasts to full-blown functions.

High hygiene standards are important - food poisoning is sudden death to a caterer. Food Fashions' commercial kitchen has to be a registered food premise and at least one person must have a certificate in basic food safety.

The hours are hectic. He will often work late one night, then after five or six hours of sleep go back to the kitchen to organise another event for that morning.

Home sites usually need visiting to check the condition of the kitchen and its amenities.

He must also ascertain what else to bring - seating, tables, music, and even pots for plants.

The most interesting site to date has been a horse truck, says Hobbs. "We had to design a menu to fit the facility, so we did a gourmet barbecue - oysters, scallops, king prawns, huge veggie salads."

Austin's Food Design Events director Maggie Weatherhead loves her job. "It is a way of life," she says.

"You either love it or you're short-lived within it."

One of the bigger caterers in Auckland, feeding patrons of The Edge and Team New Zealand, Weatherhead employs 10 full-time chefs and 10 full-time sales and operational staff. For larger events, she has up to 70 part-timers to call upon.

Quality and consistency are vital, says Weatherhead, who has a hotel management degree from her home country, England, and describes an Austin's catering event as a military exercise.

"Everyone has clipboards and job sheets, and everything is in duplicate. We need to, because sometimes well have up to 10 jobs on at once."

The team often does tastings and photos are generally taken so that the look, as well as taste, is faithfully replicated: "The important thing is that the 10th serving looks and tastes exactly like the 250th."

The unexpected can cause stress, like the time Austin's realised an hour before a wedding ceremony at a private home that the wedding cake, which wasn't Austin's responsibility, hadn't been organised.

The company stepped in and after many frantic phone calls had six chefs - on their day off - working against the clock on the cake: 200 fresh pastry puffs filled and moulded onto a pyramid, then glazed with white and dark chocolate. This then had to be ferried to the wedding.

As for training, she rates Auckland University of Technology's courses highly, particularly the events management diploma which teaches about the logistics, marketing and costing of events.

While culinary ability is obviously essential to succeed in catering, staying power and the ability to work in a team come a close second, says Weatherhead.

"When I'm interviewing, I'm always asking myself: how are they going to fit in? Catering is very much a team effort."

And the money? Salaries vary, but chefs usually earn between $20,000 and $45,000 per year depending on region, experience and responsibilities.

Catering and hospitality courses range from certificates in basic cookery or hospitality operations through to diplomas and degrees in areas such as hotel and hospitality management and events management.

Cookery, hospitality and catering courses are offered the length and breadth of New Zealand through 16 polytechnics. A number of private providers offer such courses, including Pacific International Hotel Management School in New Plymouth, Avonmore Tertiary Academy and the New Zealand School of Food and Wine.

CATERER'S RECIPE

* A love of food and people.

* Talent and creativity as a chef, front-of-house or operations person.

* Listening skills.

* People skills and a warm personality.

* Flair and style.

* The ability to work in a team.

* Stamina.

KiwiCareers